Sensitive peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence determination of psychotropic indole derivatives

Abstract

The continuous-addition-of-reagent (CAR) technique was used for the determination of hallucinogenic alkaloids such as N-methyltryptamine, 5-methyltryptamine, α-methyltryptamine, bufotenine and psilocin by measuring the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence produced on reaction with the bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate–hydrogen peroxide system following derivatization with dansyl chloride. This is the first reported use of chemiluminescence for the determination of these compounds. The special ability of the CAR technique to suppress background emission in peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reactions provides a highly sensitive means of determination (the response to indole alkaloids is linear over two orders of magnitude and detection limits are in the picomole range). The proposed method compares favourably with existing alternatives in terms of sensitivity and was validated in the determination of psilocin in mushroom samples.